ENGLISH APPRENTICESHIP AND CHILD LABOUR.* THE substantial volume on English
apprenticeship and child labour, for which Miss Dunlop and Mr. Denman are jointly responsible, though in different proportions, gives a very in- teresting historical account of the development of the appren- ticeship system in England throughout the Middle Ages and down to the present time. Those people who imagine that many of the problems of modern life are also of modern growth may note with advantage that in her opening sentences Miss Dunlop points out that child labour has existed from the earliest times. She goes on to explain that for a considerable period it was not subject to much regulation, but gradually the 'system of apprenticeship was developed by voluntary action and became established throughout the country. In the appendix to the volume is reproduced an extremely interesting transcript of an in- denture of apprenticeship preserved at Norwich and dated June 12th, 1291. It is followed by another transcript in English preserved in Wiltshire and dated January 16th, 1708. It is most interesting to note that, apart from the fact that one indenture is in Latin and the other in English, their main features, and even the terms of expression, are almost identical. It may be added that the form of this early Latin indenture is very much the same as the form of any similar legal document at the present time. The essential conception of apprenticeship is that a boy goes to a master to be trained in a handicraft. During the period of training he receives no wages, but is maintained by his master, who is responsible for his general good conduct as well as for his professional training, and is entitled to correct him when necessary. Occasionally we find cases of masters, for some reason or another, paying their apprentices, and such action resulting in protests from their guild fellows, presumably because the latter were reluctant to pay, and did not want their market spoiled. With regard to conduct, a very severe standard seems to have been exacted even in the lax period that followed the Restoration, for we find that at Newcastle in 1697 the Merchant Adventurers forbade their apprentices "to get to fencing or dancing schools, nor to music houses, lotteries, or playhouses, neither to keep any sort of horses, dogs for hunting, or fighting cocks." In many places the playing of football was vigorously opposed, and as early as 1595 we find the shoemakers in the city of Carlisle making a rale that "no journeyman or apprentice shall make any foot- ball to sell or play without the consent and knowledge of his or their masters, and that they shall not play at football with- in the liberties of this city." There was also frequently a struggle over the hair of the apprentice, for the masters con- sidered that it was improper for an apprentice to wear long hair, especially in ringlets. All this historical portion of the subject is dealt with by Miss Dunlop. A long concluding chapter on " The Modern Problem of Juvenile Labour" is added by Mr. Denman. In the suggestions made in this chapter there is no striking novelty. The main point on which Mr. Denman insists is that, though the nineteenth century took measures to prevent the excessive labour of young chil- dren, it "made no attempt to prevent a child from spending years in work that made no call upon its in- telligence, and from undertaking occupations that fitted it only for employment." The disease could not be better diagnosed. As to the remedies there is more doubt. Mr. Denman sees clearly that though
apprenticeship may still be desirable in particular cases, its universal revival is neither possible nor desirable. He argues that there is and must be a persistent demand for labour which can only be classified as unskilled, and that therefore it would be a mistake to attempt to train every boy for a skilled occupation. Instead, he suggests that what we have to do is to aim at producing "skilled, low-skilled workmen," • English Apprenticeship and Ohiici Labour. By Jocelyn Dunlop and K. D. Denman, M.P. London : T. Fisher Unwin. [10s. 6d. net.]
and that this can be accomplished by a general training of the intelligence rather than by particular professional or technical training. The criticism at once occurs that boys whose general intelligence has been highly trained may mentally revolt against a life spent in unskilled labour.
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